Stanislaus, S. Fork, |
|
| Usual Difficulty | IV-V (may vary with level) |
|---|---|
| Avg. Gradient | 94 fpm |
Put in: Highway 108 bridge. Elevation 5290 feet.
Take out: Lyons reservoir. Elevation 4215 feet.
Total drop 1075 feet over 11.5 miles.
There appear to be numerous options for put in and take out. Study a map.
Jay Seiler reports
This run was a lot of fun. We estimated it to be around 11 miles from a few miles above the
campground to about 3 or 4 miles below it. Great class 3-5.Two tricky dams above the campground.
Below the campground there were two class 5 drops separated by continuous 3-4 drops. First class
five portage on the right. The last mile of whitewater was the most fun-Six drops in a row. First
one is class 5, one of us in our group ran it blind-the next day we all walked it. Hard to
see-must make eddy on the left. Portage left. The next 5 drops are all class 4+ drops back to
back sticky holes all down the left-run right. Take out on the river left after a mile or so on a
logging road I believe-past the powerlines. Scout for wood and drops you might not want to try.
Have fun.Be safe.
A GUIDE TO THE BEST WHITEWATER IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, HOLBEK & STANLEY, 1988
There are two gauges that measure flows in this reach. Historical records are available for USGS # 11296500 and USGS # 11297200. As part of the most recent FERC relicensing, PG&E will be required to make gauge information publicly available.
| When | River/Gauge | Subject | Level | Reporter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanislaus, S. Fork [CA] |
2nd Dam
|
med-low | Jay Seiler | |
| Stanislaus, S. Fork [CA] |
Dam
|
med-low | Jay Seiler |
| Mile | Rapid Name | Class | Features (Legend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.4 | Strawberry gauge | N/A | |
| 2.9 | Philadelphia Diversion Dam | N/A |   |
| 3.0 | Gauge below Philadelphia Diversion | N/A | |
| 4.5 | Fraser Flat campground | N/A |  |
PG&E is required to start posting flow information from this gauge, USGS #11296500.
This dam may or may not be a portage. Scout carefully.
PG&E is required to start providing hourly flow information from this gauge, USGS 11297200.
River Alert
State News
River Links
NWRI - Stanislaus, S. Fork Hwy 108 Bridge to Lyons Reservoir (mobile)
User Comments
for the tree at the end of the run. Big tree lying across the river-catch the eddy under the tree
on the right-its a bit of a limbo-and watch out for the undercut behind the eddy.
same flow as the year before. We found drops upstream of the put-in above Hwy 108. There are a
series of drops back to back with a drop in the middle that had some issues. We put in below the
sketchy one. Not sure what lies further upstream but there was good water and there are gradient
lines on the map...maybe check it out further next year. The rest of the run was great-no wood.
Except for the First Dam. There is a pipe suspended across the lip of the dam. We were forced to
run the dam in the left of center-unlike our far right boof last year(pictured Dam). The 2nd Dam
dished out some punishment to one of our group members. The spouting man made 4 foot vertical drop
has a sticky and powerful hole at the bottom and apparently is not too deep. Running left of center
avoiding the hole seemed most sensible. Continuing on downstream, We ran the two portages we made
last year, basically our whole reason for going back in. The first one you can scout from the take
out road on RL. We ran it down the left. The second one above the series of drops at the end was
only run by myself, but was fairly clean. Run down the right and boof through a narrow notch at the
bottom.I called it "The Cervix". Great fun run-class five skills required-especially if no one in
your group is familiar with the run. Our first run took us 6 hours. After we knew it well, our
second run took 2 1/2 hours. All drops have been run below Hwy 108. Have fun.be safe.